JWT - Volume VIII
NOVEMBER 2020
The ‘PUP PACK’ Edition
The Howling Place Facebook group is a supportive place not only for men facing a cancer diagnosis, but for men who are caregivers This includes several men who are parents or guardians to children facing cancer. Our extended community also includes teenage boys who are battling advanced cancer.
This fall, when Trevor Maxwell and I were discussing a community service project for Man Up to Cancer and The Howling Place, there was a clear choice. We want to support these children who are part of our community, and their families, during this holiday season.
The Pup Pack Holiday Fundraiser seeks to raise $5000+ dollars. This will provide holiday gifts and special experiences for these young people facing cancer. This fundraiser will run until December 1st. I’m proud to share the cancer stories of these courageous young people.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/039pup-pack039-holiday-fundraiser
A special thank you to the families of Jayden Oakes, Allen Sorrell, Micah Ternahan, Vinny Robins and Jackson Forssberg for allowing me to share their children's journeys with you. Let's create some holiday magic for these young people fighting cancer.
— Joe Bullock, lead administrator, Man Up to Cancer - The Howling Place (Also known as The Wolfpack)
Allen Sorrell
ALLEN SORRELL
NEENAH, WISCONSIN
T CELL ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LYMPHOMA
Allen was a happy active two year old. In late July of 2019 he developed a cough. He had many appointments and was diagnosed with various issues. On August 26th it got real bad so we brought him to urgent care. They said it looked like either a collapsed lung or pneumonia and sent us to the ER. The doctor came in said it was pneumonia and prescribed antibiotics and sent him home as he had a good demeanor.
The next morning he woke up unable to breath so we started to take him to ER when he stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest. After being revived and intubated he was diagnosed with T cell acute lymphoblastic lymphoma. He had a five pound mass in his chest compressing everything. Chemo was immediately started and he has been doing fairly well. He is currently in remission with 14 months of maintenance ahead of him.
Micah Ternahan
MICAH TERNAHAN
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
ADRENOCORTICAL CARCINOMA
In December 2019 our family unexpectedly discovered our 4-year-old son, Micah, was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of cancer, adrenocortical carcinoma. Since his diagnosis, our family has been on a tough journey of chemo, surgeries, moving from Florida to Tennessee, owning 2 homes, and COVID making things even more difficult; all with 7 children. Micah is on an aggressive integrative plan post chemo and it’s very expensive, but necessary. This type of cancer is aggressive and has a 95% chance of reoccurrence.
Vinny Robins and family
VINNY ROBINS
STAGE 4 COLON CANCER
Vinny has always been a very healthy kid, especially running track. In January 2019 he began to have problems with occasional stomach pain, vomiting and constipation. On January 8, 2019, he had severe abdominal pain. At the ER, a CT scan showed severe constipation, which we attributed to a teenage diet.
The morning of February 25th, 2019, changed everything. He told me he vomited poop. As a Nurse Practitioner I knew that meant only one thing... bowel obstruction. We went to our local ER and we were transported immediately to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston where we heard the most shocking words “your child has colon cancer.”
March 1st, 2019, it was confirmed. Vinny was diagnosed with high risk stage 3 colon cancer. He had a right hemicolectomy and did six rounds of chemo. Thankfully he was in remission! We had 11 amazing months! On May 28th his CT and MRI showed a 3cm area of thickening on the scar of his colon resection. On May 30th his colonoscopy and biopsies were all benign. We were celebrating!
Then on the 4th of July 2020 everything changed again. He had another bowel obstruction and asymptomatic CoVID. We battled bowel obstructions, CoVID isolation, c-diff and more bowel obstructions but the scans were still clear.
Finally on July 22nd they did emergency exploratory surgery. To the shock of us all... his pediatric surgeon and oncologists... he had a total bowel obstruction from a 10 CM adenocarcinoma and peritoneal metastases, none of which were visible in scans. He is now stage 4 metastatic colon cancer. He is getting inpatient chemotherapy every other week and he is under the care of TCH, BCM and MDA.
Jayden Oakes and T-Bone
JAYDEN OAKES
CORNING, CALIFORNIA
STAGE 4 COLON CANCER
My name is Jayden Oakes and I am 12 years old. I live in Corning, California with my grandmother and caregiver Jayne Vinson. I have a younger brother named Jordyn and he is 10 years old. I was diagnosed with Stage IV colorectal cancer at age 11.
Before I was diagnosed with cancer I was very active in local sports. I enjoyed playing football, baseball, the swim team and wrestling. I went to school everyday. Today because of my battle with cancer I can no longer do those things I enjoyed doing in my daily life. This has been very challenging for me and saddens me a great deal.
I try to stay positive by choosing some other activities that make me happy. I love riding my dirt bike, watching television and playing video games. I was recently able to go on a hunting trip with my family. I bagged a buck, boar and a coyote. This was very exciting for me and my family. It was a trip I will never forget. I was recently given the gift of a British Bulldog puppy. He has brought a lot of joy to my life and his name is T-Bone.
If I could give advice to anyone going through this type of cancer, it would be to stay positive, keep your chin up and get through it.
Jackson Forssberg
JACKSON FORSSBERG
WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA
STAGE 3 COLORECTAL CANCER
Jackson Forssburg is currently battling stage III colorectal cancer. He had surgery this past July and has been enduring a run of eight cycles of chemotherapy at UNC Children's Hospital in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The hope is that chemotherapy will prevent a recurrence of the cancer. He has had a couple of additional surgeries because of complications with his cancer diagnosis.
Jackson enjoys living at the beach with his mom and his older brother Maxwell. Jackson dreams of one day getting married and sailing the world. It is the hope that this cancer diagnosis is just a bump in the road for this young man's life.